New license plate sure is purdy

Ohio's new license plate had a convoluted route from the drafting room to the backs of cars, but a national group of license-plate enthusiasts thinks it's pretty swell.

Ohio's new license plate had a convoluted route from the drafting room to the backs of cars, but a national group of license-plate enthusiasts thinks it's pretty swell.

The Automobile License Plate Collectors Association recently deemed the "Beautiful Ohio" plate the second-best new plate design in the country. Designed partly by First Lady Frances Strickland, the plate features a pastel-hued scene of an Ohio farm with a city in the background and a plane flying by.

The plate got the go-ahead in 2008 as the standard design, but officials shelved it without much explanation. Late last year, the head of the Ohio Department of Public Safety ordered the plates to go on sale.

Officials have insisted that the plates weren't mothballed for aesthetic reasons, but rather due to the recession.

Aesthetically, Ohio's new plate ranked higher than entrants from Florida, Texas, Arizona and other states, as well as New Brunswick in Canada. But it fell just short of Oklahoma's plate, which emphasizes that state's Indian heritage.